Society News

Israel closed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday to all visitors following the shooting of a Jewish hardliner. The compound houses Islam's third holiest site, but is also the most sacred spot for Jews. Duration: 01:19Oct 31, 2014

A court has charged the editor of a French far-right newspaper Jean-Marie Molitor a 10,000 euro fine after he featured a cover calling Justice Minister Christiane Taubira 'crafty as a monkey.' Duration: 00:55Oct 30, 2014

Hundreds of refugees that fled the fighting with the Islamic State in the Syrian town of Kobane were struggling on Thursday with little shelter as heavy rains arrived at the Rojava refugee camp in Turkey. Duration: 00:53Oct 30, 2014

As winter approaches in Ukraine's eastern countryside, pro-Russian rebels and Kiev forces eye each other uneasily across a ragged frontline. Despite signing a truce, both seem to be digging in for the long haul. Duration: 00:41Oct 30, 2014

Survivors of a landslide at a tea plantation in central Sri Lanka wait for news at temporary shelters as soldiers using heavy diggers step up their desperate search for some 100 victims feared to have been buried alive. Duration: 00:33Oct 30, 2014

Sri Lanka, Oct 30 (ANI): Hopes of finding survivors under the mud and rubble of a landslide in south-central Sri Lanka had run out by first light on Thursday, though a government minister cut the estimated death toll to more than 100 from 300 the previous night. The landslide, which stretched 3 km, engulfed the tea-plantation village of Haldummulla, 190 km from the capital Colombo on Wednesday (October 29) after months of heavy monsoon rain. Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that he did not think there could be any survivors, but revised the estimated death toll to 192 from 300 the previous evening. The centre said 150 houses were buried in the landslide. At the disaster site, hundreds of soldiers and government officials resumed search and clearing operations, using three earth-moving machines that rumbled amid broken trees, blocks of concrete, tin roofing and muddied clothes.Oct 30, 2014

Dhaka, Oct 30 (ANI): Dhaka observed a 24-hour general strike on Thursday protesting against the death sentence awarded to the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party chief, Motiur Rahman Nizami, by the Bangladesh war crimes tribunal, as supporters of Jamaat said the government had used the tribunal to weaken its political opponents. However, supporters of Bangladesh's ruling Awami league said they will not allow the call for shut down to be successful. Students of Dhaka University staged a protest and shouted slogans against Jamaat-e-Islami and said Nizami must pay for the war crimes committed by him. Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced the chief of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party to death on Wednesday for crimes against humanity, including genocide, torture and rape, during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.Oct 30, 2014

Karachi, Oct 30 (ANI): Administration in Pakistan's southern port city Karachi on Thursday continued to make necessary arrangements to cope with cyclone Nilofar in the Arabian sea, which is expected to bring widespread rains accompanied by strong gusty winds late on Thursday and Friday. While several meteorologists are certain that the cyclone will not hit Pakistan directly, they believe that some parts of Balochistan and lower Sindh will be in the periphery of the tropical storm. The coastal belt of Sindh has been closed till November 02 and any gatherings on beaches have been barred as a precautionary measure on the coastal belt of Karachi, Thatta, Sajawal and Badin. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority has told officials to prepare to evacuate villages along the coast and close beachside restaurants. But many villagers refuse to leave their homes.Oct 30, 2014

Following a spike of deadly violence in Central African Republic, many of the transport links with the north of the country have been disrupted, meaning goods and cattle are increasingly being transported by river. Duration: 00:36Oct 30, 2014